Tires, U-shaped in cross-section, have been used for many years to buffer boat hulls bumping against docks. The usual practice has been to nail the tire directly to the dock. Alternatively, the tire may be tied using rope or wire.
The problems with nailed securement include mutilation of the tire, unsightliness, difficulty in mounting, and the impracticality of dismounting and remounting of the tire when necessary.
When the tire is nailed to the dock, winter ice formations can tear the tire from its securement. This problem could be avoided if the securement permitted easy dismounting of the tire for the winter season and easy remounting for the summer season. The problem could also be avoided by providing a securement which would permit the tire some movement, without dismounting, in response to the force of the ice.
In the case where ropes or wires are used as a means of securement, it is sometimes overly time consuming to correctly position the tire on the dock and there may not always be a readily available structure for securing the free end of the rope or wire. Rope is also prone to rotting.
It is an object of this invention to provide a tire retainer that is easily mountable to a dock and which permits the quick dismounting and remounting of the tire.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tire retainer that is inexpensive to manufacture, is not unsightly and does not mutilate the tire.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tire retainer that is not subject to rotting and re-useable.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tire retainer that permits the mounted tire to shift in its mounted position without being torn from its securement.